Footwear Insight

B renda Felger, owner of Felger's Footwear in Houma, LA, said thor- oughly disinfecting and cleaning all surfaces after each customer — counters, samples, door handles — is the new order of the day. "We've always had a strong cleaning regiment and now it's stronger, which I didn't think was pos- sible," Felger said. Every store that spoke to Footwear Insight is requiring masks for employees (stores were split on whether they would enforce mask-wearing for patrons), and most are limiting the number of shoppers who come in the door at a given time. Felger said she isn't requiring masks for shoppers, although many do wear them. "Most of them would rather be done with this — they've had enough," she said. "They're [feeling] refreshed to shop and to get out." Some stores, like Karavel Shoes, have completely changed their in-store environ- ment in response to the virus. Owner Rick Ravel has set up 16 booths on the floor of his 6,000-sq.ft. Austin shop, allowing for 32 customers to be served at a time. Initially by appointment only and now serving walk-ups as space allows, Karavel reopened requiring masks and tempera- ture checks for all shoppers. (The store has also been making and selling — to cus- tomers and other retailers — 3D printed face shields. The cost is $10, donated to the food bank of the buyer's choice, and the initiative has raised more than $2,000 for food banks across the country thus far.) Ravel said he's had one customer object to the precautions, but that by and large, they've been welcomed by his shop- pers, who tend to fall into the high-risk senior citizen category. In fact, he's incorporated the message into his TV advertising, showing pictures of the set up with the message, "Your safety is our biggest concern." "We found that our customers are extremely comfortable and impressed," he said. Lanne Stauffer, co-owner of Seattle's Market Street Shoes, said her staff has worked hard to strike a balance. Masks are required, and touchless hand sanitizer dispensers and floor clings illustrating a "responsible radius" (she adopted the "friendlier" term, she said, from her daugh- ter, who learned it at nursing school) have been installed. And Stauffer said she's ordered name badges with each employ- ee's picture on them, so customers can still see their smiling faces even when they are masked. And co-owner Ryan Stauffer said the store used the weeks it was closed to invest in additional training on sales tech- niques and customer service so the staff would be absolutely ready when the doors reopened. "We really want people to feel welcome," Lanne Stauffer said, "And not feel like they're breaking the rules, that it's a not a punitive situation." Most shops said all the additional ways to shop they launched during shutdown — curbside pickups, private shopping during extended hours, phone consultations and free shipping or options to buy online — will continue, and Lanne Stauffer said that's definitely the case at Market Street. "After-hours appointments, curbside pickup — as long as this is happening, until there's a vaccine, I'll accommodate anything," she said. l footwearinsight.com June 2020 ~ Footwear Insight • 19 CUSTOMERS WANT TO FEEL SAFE, WELCOME AND CARED FOR 1 Store owners say customer service post-shutdown boils down to a balancing act: Demonstrating the ways you're keeping shoppers safe, while making the shopping experience as enjoyable as possible. "Most customers would rather be done with this. They're feeling refreshed to shop, and to get out." Brenda Felger, Felger's Footwear Rick Ravel shows off his shop's 3D printed face shields.

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